Apparatus for lowering articles



G. M. vFRENCH AND w. B. PAVEY. APPARATUS FOR LOWERING ARTICLES.APPLICATION FILED NOVfZO. ISIS.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922'.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l G. M. FRENCH AND w. B. PAVEY.

APPARATUS FOR L0 WER|NG ARTICLES. APPLICATION FIL'ED nov. 2o. 191s.

3 SHIIETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

G. IVI. FRENCH AND W. B. PAVEY.

APPARATUS FOR LOWERING ARTICLES.

APPLlcAfoN FILED Nov. 20, 1918.

Patented Apr.' 4, 1922.

3 SHtEIS-/S/HEET 3- f @7,55 @65565 v' 1 jaag/0% @im fw UNITED sTATEsPATENT oFElcE.

' GfEoRGE II. FRENCH AND WILLIAM B. PAvEr, or CIIICAGO, ,ILLINoIsAssIGNoRs vro 'ECONOMY ENGINEERING COMPANY, or CHICAGO, ILLINoIs, ACORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

APPARArUs PoR LCWERING ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 11922.

l Application filed November 20, 1918. Serial No. 263,281.

To all whom 'it may cof/warn: Y

Be it known that we, GEORGE M. RENCH,

and WILLIAM B. PAVEY, citizens of the United States, residing atChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful .Improvements in Apparatus for Lowerin Articles,of which the following is a speci cation. The invention relates to anarticle lowering apparatus the general purpose of whichA is tofacilitate the operation of removing articles from an'. elevatedposition, such as a work bench, to -a lower position, such as the floorat the side or end of the bench.

A more specific object of the invention is to yrovi'de a machinecomprising a framework having a vertically movable support kand means ofadvantageous construction for controlling the movements ofthe support.

In the accompanyingy drawings, wherein we have illustrated a preferredform of our invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatusembodying the features of our inventin. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 14 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view taken online 5-5 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line6-6 of Fig. 2

The machine comprises generally a base 1 having an upright frame 2 forguiding a support 3 for vertical movement, an upright frame 4 for'guiding acounterweight 5, a

pulley 6 for the support and counterweight walls o and d and a bottom,and may be provided ,wthA suitable supporting legs f.

The base 1 and frame 2 may be of any preferred construction adapted tosupport and guide the movable support 3. The base is adapted to restupon the floorof the building and preferably isnot secured thereto sothat the apparatusisportable;y and the support vmay comprise an uprightframe 8 having atits lower' end a pair of forwardly,extending arms 9secured at lthe opposite sidesV thereof. At its upper and lower ends theframe 8 is also provided upon each side with guide rollers 1() arrangedto operate in waysA 11 formed in the upright frame 2 (Fig. 5). Thesupport 3 is thus movable vertically, beingguided in such movements bythe upright `frame 2.

The guiding frame 4 for the counterweight 5 1s loeatedrearwardly of theguide frame 2 for the movable support, suitable `ways 12 being providedin the opposite sides of the frame fr guiding the' counterweight in itsvertical movements. The counterweight may be Aof any preferred form;

Upon the upper end of the frame 2 the pulley. 6 is mounted. To this enda pair of lbearing brackets 1-3 and 14 are secured to thev frame so asto support-theopposite ends of a shaft 15 which carries the pulley. Saidpulley comprises a Vpair of'grooved wheels 16 and 17 secured Vtogetherand fixed upon the shaft. The wheels have secured thereto the upper endsof cables 18 and 19, as at 20 and 21, respectively, and the .cables arewound in opposite directionson their wheels. At its lower end the cable18 is secured to a 'cross bar 22 of the: load support, and the cable19at its lower end is fastened'to the counterweight 5. The wheel 17 maybe made somewhat largerthan the wheel 16, and one of the wheels of thepulley, herein the wheel 16,` isV spiral eccentric in form so that itseffective radius variesin the rotation ofthe pulley.- The cables are soAarranged with reference to the pulley that when the receptacle b is inits lowermost position, the

.the cable 18 is unwound from its pulley 16 so that the effective radiusthereof is of minimum length v(Fig. 6) and the cable 19 vis wound one ormore times around its wheel 17. Thel counterweight 5 is of. sufficientmass to normally raise the empty receptacle from its lowermost` positioninto receiving position adjacent the end of the benchtop a, and when thereceptacle -is in this position, the effective radius of thek wheel 16is *substantially ofv maximum length, so that the counterbalancingeffect of the counterweight is at its minimum. Accordingly, whenarticles are removedby a Workman from the bench top.` to the receptacle,it will be 'seen thatithe added weight of the articles upon thereceptacle will overcome the tendency ofthe' counterwei'ght to raisethe-receptacle', and when a sufficient weight.

quantity of articles has been placed upon the receptacle, it Vwilldescend il" permitted to dou so.

comprises a brake disc 28 fixed on the shaftv 15, a brake band 24- andahand lever r25.

Said lever is pivotedto a depending` portion of the bracket 14, as at 26at or slightly above the operators head `within easy lreach whenstanding at the bench, and the opposite ends of the brake band arepivoted to the lever as at 27 and 28. A spring 29 connected at one endto the lever. and at its other end toan arm 30 on the frame 2 serves toactuate the lever to normally tighten the brake band upon the disc 23;and spring means 31 of ordinary construc- -tion is mounted upon anupstandingportion of the bracket 14 so as to withdraw the brake `bandfrom lthe upper periphery of the disc Y when the lever25 is raised.

- brake mechanism is released.

In the operation of the machine, the empty lreceptacle Z) is brought toposition with its bottom e adjacent the end of the bench top a, forV theconvenience ofvthel operator in placing articles upon the receptacle,the receptacle beingv held in this position by the brake mechanism 7.When the pile of articles upon the receptacle has increased so as tomake it desirable to lower the receptacle for the convenience of theoperator, it is only vnecessary that he operate the brake mechanism byraising the llever 2,5, the -added weight of the articlesupon thereceptacle being suicient to cause it to settle when the After thereceptacle has descended su'liiciently to bring the topof thepile ofarticles thereon substantially to the plane of the bench top, the handleis released to permit the brake mechanism to prevent a further downwardmovement ofthe receptacle until. it is desired by the operator. As thepulley 6 rotates in the descent of the receptacle, the counterbalancingeffect of the counterweight grad- -ually increasing so as tocounterbalance the articles placed onthe receptacle owing tothe`fact-thatv the effective leverage ofthe cable 18. upon the pulleydecreases during such descent of the receptacle;

When the receptacle finally reaches its lowermost position` it may beremoved from its position upon the *supporting arms 9 and `a newreceptacle iplacedthereon. ,brakemechanisin' r7, the vnew receptaclewillV Thereupon, by releasing the be raised by the action of thecounterweight until stopped by lthe application ofthe l brake, thecounterweiglit being ofsufficient mass to slightly overbalaiice thereceptacle when empty. v It will be observed that by the use of a-machine of the character set forth, the operation of removing articlesfrom a work bench, or other similar operations, may be greatlyfacilitated. The construction of the machine is very simple and moreoverVthe machine is capable of quick andeasy` operation, requiring a minimumamount of attention from the operator. i 1

`We claim as our invention: "j 1. A work handling "apparatus comprising,incombination, a horizontal base, an upright frame mounted on the base,a support guided by the frame for up and' down'movement and having apair of forwardly extending arms rigid therewith, a l,receptacle to beremovably supported'upon said arms adapted to receive articles fromanelevated position, andl means forfcontrollingA the movements of thesupportk and the receptacle vcarried thereby comprising acounterweig'ht,

a pulley carried by the frame and-:oper-r atively associated withsaidcounterweight andsaid support, and brake mechanism normally holdingsaid support against" movement.

2. A vportable work handling kapparatus comprising, in combination, a base,'anv upright frame at one end of the base, a supportV Y v,

guided for vertical movement by said frame, a receptacle removablycarriedl by said support and open at one side, ,and means for graduallylowering the receptacle from` an elevated position so as to positionitffromy time'to time at convenient heights Ywith respect toV saidelevated positionfor receiving additional articles by way of said openside said means comprising a pulley, a counterweight, and'm'eans adaptedto control theVA operationof said counteiweight. e

3. An apparatus of the class described comprising, in 'combination witha bench top, a lowering apparatus comprising an upright frame positionedadjacent oneend of, said bench topV and rising above the plane thereof,a receptacle having an open side, a support guided for vertical movementby 'said frame and adapted to carry said receptacle with its open sideadjacenty the bench top, andy means for controllingftheY movements ofsaid support and thereby of said receptacle comprising a counterweiglit,a pulley carried by the Iframe and' oper'- ,atively 'associatedVV withsaidY vsupport and counterweight, andv brake' mechanism no'ri mallyholding said" pulleyagainst rotation. 4. An apparatusv of the` vclassdescribed comprising, incombination` with a bench top,

a lowering apparatuscom'prising an' upright Afrankie positioned`adjacent one end-of said" bench top and rising above the plane thereof,a receptacle having an open side, a support guided for vertical movementby said frame and adapted to carry said receptacle with its open sideadjacent the bench top,

and means for controlling the movements of said support and thereby ofsaid receptacle comprising a connterweight, a ried by the frame andoperatively associated with said support and counterweight,

and brake mechanismnormally holding said pulley against rotation, saidbrake mechanism including an operatingarm extending forwardly over Vthebench top substantially to the forward edge thereof in convenientposition to be graspedby an operator.

5. An apparatus of the character de-y scribed comprising, incombination, a base, an upright frame at one end of the base, a supportguided for vertical movement by pulley carsaid frame, a receptacle forreceiving articles from an adjacent elevation, vsaid support having apair of forwardly extending arms rigid therewith upon which saidreceptacle is adapted to be mounted, and controlling weight increases asthe receptacle support,

descends.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

GEORGE M. FRENCH. WM. B. PAvEY.

